MLB

METS’ WIN STREAK ENDS IN NIGHTCAP

No need for Jonathon Niese to seek out COO Jeff Wilpon for “career advice” because of one bad inning, but the rookie should have “lobbied” the Mets for a little run support last night.

At least Niese has a job with the Mets. And he can plan on sticking around should he provide his team with more of what he showed for six innings against Colorado and less of what occurred in the seventh.

In the end, the Mets had to settle for a doubleheader split with the Rockies, dropping the nightcap 4-2 after Johan Santana’s seven brilliant innings led a 7-0 victory in Game 1.

“The thing that was significant for us is that we pitched well throughout the series,” manager Jerry Manuel said after the Mets took three of four against the wild-card contending Rockies, but saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

Niese (1-1) took a shutout into the sixth before allowing a run — ending the Mets’ scoreless innings streak at 27 innings — to make it 1-1. The lefty then surrendered a two-run blast to Clint Barmes in the seventh before Troy Tulowitzki smashed an RBI triple against Brian Stokes for a run that was charged to Niese.

The Mets got a run back in the bottom of the inning on Fernando Tatis’ solo blast, but never got over the top against Colorado’s bullpen.

“I made a few mistakes and they hit them,” Niese said. “They hit my mistakes well. That is what it came down to.”

It didn’t help the Mets that Angel Pagan got nailed in an attempted delayed steal of home in the first inning, after Luis Castillo broke for second and catcher Yorvit Torrealba’s throw was cut off by Barmes, the second baseman.

But the Mets struggled to do much of anything against Jorge De La Rosa (9-7), who surrendered only three hits over 6 1/3 innings.

On a day GM Omar Minaya was apologizing for his words in a Monday press conference to announce VP Tony Bernazard’s firing, Santana apologized to nobody. His nasty stuff gave the Mets something to celebrate in the afternoon.

Santana (12-8) received a five-run cushion in the second inning and translated that into one of his best performances this season: seven shutout innings, four hits, eight strikeouts, one walk.

“I knew coming into this game I had a pretty good chance to [let] my team win this series,” Santana said. “I had that mentality coming into this game.”

Santana is 8-2 with a 1.69 ERA at Citi Field this season, a stark contrast to his 4-6 record with a 4.48 ERA on the road. Only twice this season has Santana allowed more than two earned runs in a home start.

Meanwhile, the Mets lineup knocked out Colorado starter Jason Hammel (5-6) in the second inning by sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs on six hits and an error.

The best sign might have been the RBI single by struggling Cory Sullivan, who finished 2-for-4 as part of the Mets’ 11-hit outburst.

“It’s obviously been refreshing, the last week or so, the quality of baseball that we’re playing,” David Wright said. “It’s been a challenge for us, with the injuries we’ve had. But at the same time we know we have an opportunity to slowly get back into this thing.”

Santana retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced for his first career victory against Colorado. The only team Santana hasn’t beaten is his former employer, the Twins.

“It’s nice to give him this kind of win where he can just relax and go out there and worry about throwing strikes,” Wright said.

mpuma@nypost.com